Related papers: Bulk Strong Matter: the Trinity
Strangeon is proposed to be the constituent of bulk strong matter, as an analogy of nucleon for an atomic nucleus. The nature of both nucleon matter (2 quark flavors, u and d) and strangeon matter (3 flavors, u, d and s) is controlled by…
The fact that strange sea quarks are abundant in the nucleons, but with zero net strangeness, is of great importance for understanding the nature of matter condensed by the strong interaction, particularly in the context of the ``gigantic…
The state of cold bulk matter at around nuclear density depends on the fundamental strong interaction between quarks at low-energy scale, so-called non-perturbative quantum chromo-dynamics. Such kind of matter is conjectured to be condensed…
Stable micro-nucleus is 2-flavored (u and d), whereas stable macro-nucleus could be 3-flavored (u, d and s) if the light flavor symmetry restores there. Nucleons are the constituent of a nucleus, while strangeons are named as the…
Dark matter, proposed decades ago as a speculative component of the universe, is now known to be the vital ingredient in the cosmos, eight times more abundant than ordinary matter, one quarter of the total energy density and the component…
Relativistic heavy ion collisions offer the possibility to produce exotic metastable states of nuclear matter containing (roughly) equal number of strangeness compared to the content in baryon number. The reasoning of both their stability…
The nature of pulsar-like compact stars is essentially a central question of the fundamental strong interaction (explained in quantum chromo-dynamics) at low energy scale, the solution of which still remains a challenge though tremendous…
It is generally agreed on that the tremendous densities reached in the centers of neutron stars provide a high-pressure environment in which several intriguing particles processes may compete with each other. These range from the generation…
Astrophysicists distinguish between three different types of compact stars. These are white dwarfs, neutron stars, and black holes. The former contain matter in one of the densest forms found in the Universe which, together with the…
It would be hard to find a cosmologist today who does not believe that the vast bulk of the Universe (ninety-five percent or more) is hidden from our eyes. We review the evidence for this remarkable consensus, and for the latest proposal,…
There are at least three sources of cosmic quarks in the universe. One, the quark nuggets which may survive beyond a certain baryon number during the phase transition from quarks to hadrons microseconds after the big bang. These quark…
The nonbaryonic dark matter of the Universe is assumed to consist of new stable forms of matter. Their stability reflects symmetry of micro world and particle candidates for cosmological dark matter are the lightest particles that bear new…
The existence of cosmological dark matter is in the bedrock of the modern cosmology. The dark matter is assumed to be nonbaryonic and to consist of new stable particles. However if composite dark matter contains stable electrically charged…
Strange stars ought to exist in the universe according to the strange quark matter hypothesis, which states that matter made of roughly equal numbers of up, down, and strange quarks could be the true ground state of baryonic matter rather…
More than sixty years ago Zwicky made the case that the great clusters of galaxies are held together by the gravitational force of unseen (dark) matter. Today, the case is stronger and more precise: Dark, nonbaryonic matter accounts for 30%…
Pulsar-like objects are extremely compact, with an average density that exceeds nuclear saturation density, where the fundamental strong interaction plays an essential role, particularly in the low-energy regime. The internal structures and…
3-flavor quark matter (strange quark matter; SQM) can be stable or metastable for a wide range of strong interaction parameters. If so, SQM can play an important role in cosmology, neutron stars, cosmic ray physics, and relativistic…
For the first time, we have a plausible, complete accounting of matter and energy in the Universe. Expressed a fraction of the critical density it goes like this: neutrinos, between 0.3% and 15%; stars, 0.5%; baryons (total), 5%; matter…
This short review was prepared as an introduction to the Royal Society's 'Dark Matter' conference. It addresses the embarrassing fact that 95% of the universe is unaccounted for. Favoured dark matter candidates are axions or…
The nonbaryonic dark matter of the Universe can consist of new stable charged leptons and quarks, if they are hidden in elusive "dark atoms" of composite dark matter. Such possibility can be compatible with the severe constraints on…